What Happened on in Grades K-2 on Sunday, February 21...

Kindergarten

While we waited for all of our friends to arrive, we helped the teens with the Purim Carnival by coloring pictures of superheros.

Then we went to Kehillah. We had pretzels and water for snack. Did you know that before we eat snack each week we say the brachot (blessings) for what we're eating? The bracha (blessing) that we say over pretzels is mezonot and the bracha (blessing) that we say over water is she'hakol.

After Kehillah, we went to T'filah. The Cantor told us a story about this week's Torah portion. In the story, Moses took too long to come down Mt. Sinai, so the Israelites thought that they could get closer to God on their own. They did this by building a Golden Calf - which is definitely not the right way to get close to God!

Back in the classroom, we talked about what it is like to be a good friend. We got into pairs and created skits that show how to be a good friend.

Then, we shared our skits. While everyone shared their skits, we made sure to show them kavod (respect). Lastly, we made our madrich, Noah, get well cards because he is sick and that is what good friends do!

Grade 1

Grade 1 started our day by drawing pictures that show what we'd like to do with our Tzedakah money. It was a great way to remind ourselves to bring in our Tzedakah each week!

During Circle Time, we reviewed the learning about Tzedakah that we did two weeks ago and we moved into talking about Noah's Ark.

During T'filah, Cantor led us in song and many prayers!

Back in the classroom, Ms. Levy read us a story about Noah's Ark. While we read, we talked about how Noah acted as a Jewish hero throughout the story.

Then, we played charades, acting out the different animals that we saw in the book. 

We finished our day by drawing pictures of what we think the inside of the ark might have looked like. We'll add these pictures to our binders that we'll take home at the end of the year!

Grade 2

 

To begin our day today, Grade 2 had a fun activity. Along with our usual coloring in of our newest letter from the Alef Bet, we got flashcards to cut out and use at home to make studying for Hebrew school all the more entertaining. After we’d all finished cutting, we got in a circle and Mrs. Henry reminded us about what we learned last week, which was the Hashkivenui. This week our prayer was the Shema. We sang the prayer well, much to Mrs. Henry’s surprise, and we looked at the words in depth.

Next we had Kehillah. During Kehillah had pretzels for snack. Next, at T’filah, we talked about this week’s Torah portion and how the golden calf symbolized a mistake that the Israelites could learn from. Cantor Lawrence helped us relate this scenario to our own lives, though not that exact situation and we gave examples of how we’ve learned from our own mistakes. One student had a great question, “Don’t we, as Jews, worship the Torah?” Cantor explained how we don’t worship the Torah, but what the Torahrepresents and what’s within it. We learn from the Torahto worship G-d, and only G-d, which also connects to the Shema!

Back in class, we had our Hebrew lesson. Today’s letter was aiyin on page 52. We learned that it’s a silent letter without vowels, but vowels can make it have a sound. 

Last, we had art. During art we told the art teacher what we’d learned about the Shema today, and afterward she further explained the prayer, this time not so much with symbolism but with the language used. For example, “Here O’ Israel” can be easier said as “Listen up, Israelites.” We then got a circle on a paper, the Shema contained in the shape, then we doodled all over it. Once we’d done that, we filled the shapes that were separated by the lines we’d drawn with funky patterns. Finally, we colored them with crayon and cut them out.